The Paramount+ era for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has officially arrived — and if UFC 324 was the litmus test, the rollout couldn’t have gone much better.
According to Paramount+, UFC 324 reached 7.18 million global households, making it the most-watched UFC event in nearly a decade when factoring in linear television, broadcast, and streaming combined. The event generated nearly five million streaming views, posted a 4.96 million live average minute audience during the main card, and peaked at 5.93 million concurrent streams. Notably, those figures do not include co-viewing.
In an official press release, Paramount+ labeled UFC 324 its “largest exclusive live event to date,” an impressive milestone considering the platform has streamed thousands of live events since its launch.
A major driver behind the massive audience was accessibility. UFC 324 was available to Paramount+ subscribers in both the United States and Latin America at no additional pay-per-view cost, marking a seismic shift in how the promotion distributes its biggest events. For fans, it removed a significant barrier. For the UFC, it opened the door to a much wider audience.
From an entertainment standpoint, the card delivered. The five-round main event war between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett lived up to the hype and should remain in the “Fight of the Year” conversation for months to come (watch highlights).
The event also dominated social media. UFC 324 was the most social event of the night across all broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms, generating 5.5 million social interactions for the main event alone. It became the most social Paramount+ exclusive telecast ever, trended No. 1 worldwide on X for six straight hours, and logged 186,000 total mentions — a 127 percent increase compared to UFC 323.
Still, the debut wasn’t without criticism. Fans loudly voiced frustrations over frequent ad interruptions throughout the broadcast. UFC CEO Dana White addressed the issue, explaining that with the loss of traditional pay-per-view revenue, advertising was always going to be part of the equation given the platform’s reported $7.7 billion rights investment. That said, White emphasized “these guys are incredible to work with already, so we’ll figure it out.”
Another massive numbered event is right around the corner, as UFC 325 is set to go down this weekend — and all eyes will be on whether Paramount+ can build on an already historic debut.
